I have taught EFL or ESL for a combined total of over 10 years, including eight years in Korea. I taught 4 years in the EPIK program: 3 years in a public elementary school and 1 year in a public high school in Korea. I have also taught medical and business English to medical professionals in Korea and have edited dissertations for PhD and Master's degree candidates at some prestigious universities such as University of Wisconsin at Madison and Waseda. I am presently working on a Master in Educational Leadership and Management online through a prestigious European university. In the past, I worked as an application developer for crew management applications for a major airline based in Chicago.

I came to Malaysia after being contracted by Brighton in spring of last year to work as a mentor for the TELL2 program. My pregnant wife and two daughters, 5 and 2, came with me. Our third daughter was born in June at our rented home in Malaysia.

If you are considering working for this company, be forewarned of the following:

1) Brighton fired me on unsubstantiated charges without even a day's notice and gave me less than 20 hours to prepare my defense.

Here's what happened:
One HR staffperson told me that Brighton doesn't process the visas for dependents. I was actually told this 7 and a half months after I started working for this company. HR told me this in an email stating that my eldest daughter's dependent visa had been approved (yes, it took more than 7 months for the visa to be approved; and I was told on two occasions that I had no choice but to send my family back home; it turned out to be wrong, because my wife was able to get special passes both times). So I went to pay for the visa, but the immigration officer at the payment counter said there was a problem: the visa was approved in only one of their two databases. So they had me fill out a "technical" form which required the Cop Company, which I later figured out was the company seal. So I texted the main HR staffperson, and she did not respond at all! I texted the Project Manager, who erroneously claiimed that the approval letter that I received from HR was all that was needed. I texted another HR person, who claimed that he was at a meeting. In my SMS, I clearly stated that the company seal was needed for this new form. He simply told me that the seal was on the approval letter. The immigration officer who gave me the form then told me that I could have the company seal sent by email to a shop on the second floor, and have them scan the form, affix the seal on it, and have it printed. Since the above mentioned HR person never warned me not to use the seal on another form, I used the seal that he indicated. I submitted the copy of this form along with the attached seal, and of course the immigration officer accepted it and I was able to obtain the dependent visa for my daughter.

The very next day, I was informed by Brighton management that I needed to attend a "disciplinary meeting" on less than 20 hours notice to answer to the charge of illegally using the company seal and the charge of saying negative things about the Malaysian government (I had only complained to the Project Manager and the teachers I mentor along with a few others about the poor service I received at the immigration office). They infomred me that I could bring a "silent witness" and that the Program Director, the Project Manager, and the above HR staffperson who didn't respond to my request for the company seal would make a decision regardless of whether I was present.

I couldn't sleep after receiving the upsetting notice, and my eyes became so inflamed the next morning that I felt it unsafe to operate a motor vehicle. I informed the Project Manager that I could not attend and that I would obtain an MC ('Medical Certificate'). I also informed them that I intended to send them an email stating reasons for resigning (I intended to resign with protest, and I had actually written nearly the whole letter, but the Brighton server crashed before I could send it, and the letter was lost entirely.) Curiously, a little over one hour after the scheduled time, I got an SMS from the Project Manager saying they'd been waiting for me for over one hour. When I reminded him of the message I sent that morning, he responded by saying that they are awaiting my resignation letter. I told the Project Manager that I would first like a ruling on the charges against me, and I explained that the immigration officer had instructed me to do what I did, and I described in great detail what happened. I stated emphatically that I never tried to deceive anyone, and I didn't need to either. I also made some comments about the other charge explaining that I complained about the Immigration office in order to inform Malaysian people so that they could affect reform.

It appears that they did not consider my defense at all, and only a few hours later, I received a termination letter. The termination letter stated that I had falsified the company seal on a visa application. Of course, this was an OUTRIGHT LIE! "Falsification" by definition implies the motive to deceive, so there was no way that I could have been found guilty of this if they had been acting in good faith after consideration of the evidence (I even went back to the immigration office a few days later and spoke with the immigration officer, her supervisor, and the Deputy Director and I got their badge numbers after she told her supervisor and the Deputy Director that she had instructed me to do that). The document in question was not an application at all, as Brighton applied for my visa and those of all my family members both online and manually (because the online system had a bug). They also lied in saying that the Whatsapp text where I complained about the service at the Immigration office was sent to approximately 60 teachers, when in fact there were at most 21 teachers in the group. Obviously, nobody cared to do a proper investigation. It seemed the management only wanted to expedite the termination before the holiday, which would be starting after the next day. Despite the fact that I refuted the charges and reminded the Project Manager again that I had notified him that I would obtain the Medical Certificate, the very next day, the driver of the chairperson came to my home to collect my passport and to verify our dates of departure. The rental car company also came by to collect the car.

It wasn't until shortly after I created a boycott group on Facebook that I received a warning letter from Brighton demanding that I delete the group. The letter also stated that Brighton has "continued" my employment.

A few weeks later, I received a "Show Cause Letter" alleging that I made defamatory, untrue statements about Brighton and its staff. I responded by saying that the Show Cause Letter should have been provided prior to termination, not two weeks after! I also stated that they cannot unilaterally decide to re-employ me, as I am not a conscripted laborer or an indentured servant. I never agreed to work for Brighton again after they terminated me.

Today, I have received an email stating that they have terminated me. This is the second time in the span of about 70 days.

So, employees of Brighton have no say in whether they want to work again after they've been wrongfully dismissed. Brighton will just undismiss you and then dismiss you properly.

2) It seems that the actual reason Brighton fired me probably had nothing to do with the above stated reasons. It doesn't seem to be a coincidence that I told the above mentioned Project Manager some sensitive information concerning one of the teachers another mentor in my cluster had been mentoring. This mentor had been fired for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with this teacher, a Musliim lady roughly half his age. (The mentor's wife was in Bangkok due to the fact that she failed to get a dependent visa). It turns out that she had gotten pregnant by this mentor, but the management of Brighton was not aware of this. The father of the teacher, a major in the Malaysian military, had the police detain this mentor and took his daughter away. Subsequently she was taken to a "clinic" and was administered some "morphinous drugs" according to the mentor. This ended up aborting the unborn child. I felt that I should inform the Project Manager of this. I informed him the day before I visited the immigration office to pay for my daughter's approved visa.

Apparently, the Project Manager felt that he needed to get rid of me because I knew too much damaging information about this case.

This was not the first time there was a scandal in my cluster. The English Language Coordinator had been dismissed only a few months prior for falsifying his records. Apparently, it was extremely gross falsification.

3) HR staff charged me much more than they quoted me for the airfare for my dependents. They took out RM1823 (More than $US 500) more out of my paycheck than the price they quoted me by email. When I complained about it, the HR person who gave me the misquote said that the adult and child prices were forwarded to me in the email. While she is right, the fact remains that the total quoted for my wife and two children was wrong. 10 months later, Brighton has done nothing to compensate me for the wrong price quote.

Ask yourself why I was made out to be a liar when I only went to the immigration office to pay for a visa for my five-year-old daughter -- when I had already received official approval for this! The truth is that Brighton management don't care about the welfare of their employees, and they care even less about fairness, truth, and justice!

I am calling for a boycott. Even if you are currently employed by Brighton, you should seriously consider whether it is worth it in the long run to be employed by a company that behaves like this.

2) It seems that the actual reason Brighton fired me probably had nothing to do with the above stated reasons. It doesn't seem to be a coincidence that I told the above mentioned Project Manager some sensitive information concerning one of the teachers another mentor in my cluster had been mentoring. This mentor had been fired for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with this teacher, a Musliim lady roughly half his age. (The mentor's wife was in Bangkok due to the fact that she failed to get a dependent visa). It turns out that she had gotten pregnant by this mentor, but the management of Brighton was not aware of this. The father of the teacher, a major in the Malaysian military, had the police detain this mentor and took his daughter away. Subsequently she was taken to a "clinic" and was administered some "morphinous drugs" according to the mentor. This ended up aborting the unborn child. I felt that I should inform the Project Manager of this. I informed him the day before I visited the immigration office to pay for my daughter's approved visa.

.

Why did you do that? They might well have been in your cluster but common decency dictates that you don't go running around behind other teachers' backs and gossiping to management about something that doesn't directly concern you.

2) It seems that the actual reason Brighton fired me probably had nothing to do with the above stated reasons. It doesn't seem to be a coincidence that I told the above mentioned Project Manager some sensitive information concerning one of the teachers another mentor in my cluster had been mentoring. This mentor had been fired for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with this teacher, a Musliim lady roughly half his age. (The mentor's wife was in Bangkok due to the fact that she failed to get a dependent visa). It turns out that she had gotten pregnant by this mentor, but the management of Brighton was not aware of this. The father of the teacher, a major in the Malaysian military, had the police detain this mentor and took his daughter away. Subsequently she was taken to a "clinic" and was administered some "morphinous drugs" according to the mentor. This ended up aborting the unborn child. I felt that I should inform the Project Manager of this. I informed him the day before I visited the immigration office to pay for my daughter's approved visa.

.

Why did you do that? They might well have been in your cluster but common decency dictates that you don't go running around behind other teachers' backs and gossiping to management about something that doesn't directly concern you.

That's snitching- and nobody likes a snitch....

It's not snitching. It is reporting a crime, because in most places around the world forced administration of drugs and aborting an unborn child in the process against the woman's will is a crime. It was my civic responsibility to report the crime to my superior, especially when the victim of the crime was one of the teachers that were mentored by Brighton. Brighton's hands are not clean because they took the side of the father who did this to his own daughter. To this date, I am certain that nothing has been done about this crime.

2) It seems that the actual reason Brighton fired me probably had nothing to do with the above stated reasons. It doesn't seem to be a coincidence that I told the above mentioned Project Manager some sensitive information concerning one of the teachers another mentor in my cluster had been mentoring. This mentor had been fired for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with this teacher, a Musliim lady roughly half his age. (The mentor's wife was in Bangkok due to the fact that she failed to get a dependent visa). It turns out that she had gotten pregnant by this mentor, but the management of Brighton was not aware of this. The father of the teacher, a major in the Malaysian military, had the police detain this mentor and took his daughter away. Subsequently she was taken to a "clinic" and was administered some "morphinous drugs" according to the mentor. This ended up aborting the unborn child. I felt that I should inform the Project Manager of this. I informed him the day before I visited the immigration office to pay for my daughter's approved visa.

.

Why did you do that? They might well have been in your cluster but common decency dictates that you don't go running around behind other teachers' backs and gossiping to management about something that doesn't directly concern you.

That's snitching- and nobody likes a snitch....

It's not snitching. It is reporting a crime, because in most places around the world forced administration of drugs and aborting an unborn child in the process against the woman's will is a crime. It was my civic responsibility to report the crime to my superior, especially when the victim of the crime was one of the teachers that were mentored by Brighton. Brighton's hands are not clean because they took the side of the father who did this to his own daughter. To this date, I am certain that nothing has been done about this crime.

Oh come on!

Keep out of it, then you don't make enemies and get fired!

It's not back home, we have very little in the way of rights. It is about treading a fine line half the time regards not getting yourself sacked.

2) It seems that the actual reason Brighton fired me probably had nothing to do with the above stated reasons. It doesn't seem to be a coincidence that I told the above mentioned Project Manager some sensitive information concerning one of the teachers another mentor in my cluster had been mentoring. This mentor had been fired for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with this teacher, a Musliim lady roughly half his age. (The mentor's wife was in Bangkok due to the fact that she failed to get a dependent visa). It turns out that she had gotten pregnant by this mentor, but the management of Brighton was not aware of this. The father of the teacher, a major in the Malaysian military, had the police detain this mentor and took his daughter away. Subsequently she was taken to a "clinic" and was administered some "morphinous drugs" according to the mentor. This ended up aborting the unborn child. I felt that I should inform the Project Manager of this. I informed him the day before I visited the immigration office to pay for my daughter's approved visa.

.

Why did you do that? They might well have been in your cluster but common decency dictates that you don't go running around behind other teachers' backs and gossiping to management about something that doesn't directly concern you.

That's snitching- and nobody likes a snitch....

It's not snitching. It is reporting a crime, because in most places around the world forced administration of drugs and aborting an unborn child in the process against the woman's will is a crime. It was my civic responsibility to report the crime to my superior, especially when the victim of the crime was one of the teachers that were mentored by Brighton. Brighton's hands are not clean because they took the side of the father who did this to his own daughter. To this date, I am certain that nothing has been done about this crime.

2) It seems that the actual reason Brighton fired me probably had nothing to do with the above stated reasons. It doesn't seem to be a coincidence that I told the above mentioned Project Manager some sensitive information concerning one of the teachers another mentor in my cluster had been mentoring. This mentor had been fired for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with this teacher, a Musliim lady roughly half his age. (The mentor's wife was in Bangkok due to the fact that she failed to get a dependent visa). It turns out that she had gotten pregnant by this mentor, but the management of Brighton was not aware of this. The father of the teacher, a major in the Malaysian military, had the police detain this mentor and took his daughter away. Subsequently she was taken to a "clinic" and was administered some "morphinous drugs" according to the mentor. This ended up aborting the unborn child. I felt that I should inform the Project Manager of this. I informed him the day before I visited the immigration office to pay for my daughter's approved visa.

.

Why did you do that? They might well have been in your cluster but common decency dictates that you don't go running around behind other teachers' backs and gossiping to management about something that doesn't directly concern you.

That's snitching- and nobody likes a snitch....

It's not snitching. It is reporting a crime, because in most places around the world forced administration of drugs and aborting an unborn child in the process against the woman's will is a crime. It was my civic responsibility to report the crime to my superior, especially when the victim of the crime was one of the teachers that were mentored by Brighton. Brighton's hands are not clean because they took the side of the father who did this to his own daughter. To this date, I am certain that nothing has been done about this crime.

Oh come on!

Keep out of it, then you don't make enemies and get fired!

It's not back home, we have very little in the way of rights. It is about treading a fine line half the time regards not getting yourself sacked.

If I made enemies for reporting a criminal violation of human rights, then that doesn't reflect on me; rather it reflects badly on the management of Brighton who don't seem to give a darn about basic human dignity.

Why don't you do a thought experiment: imagine it had been your sister or your lover? Or better yet, imagine you had lost your child because someone forcefully injected you with drugs?

2) It seems that the actual reason Brighton fired me probably had nothing to do with the above stated reasons. It doesn't seem to be a coincidence that I told the above mentioned Project Manager some sensitive information concerning one of the teachers another mentor in my cluster had been mentoring. This mentor had been fired for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with this teacher, a Musliim lady roughly half his age. (The mentor's wife was in Bangkok due to the fact that she failed to get a dependent visa). It turns out that she had gotten pregnant by this mentor, but the management of Brighton was not aware of this. The father of the teacher, a major in the Malaysian military, had the police detain this mentor and took his daughter away. Subsequently she was taken to a "clinic" and was administered some "morphinous drugs" according to the mentor. This ended up aborting the unborn child. I felt that I should inform the Project Manager of this. I informed him the day before I visited the immigration office to pay for my daughter's approved visa.

.

Why did you do that? They might well have been in your cluster but common decency dictates that you don't go running around behind other teachers' backs and gossiping to management about something that doesn't directly concern you.

That's snitching- and nobody likes a snitch....

It's not snitching. It is reporting a crime, because in most places around the world forced administration of drugs and aborting an unborn child in the process against the woman's will is a crime. It was my civic responsibility to report the crime to my superior, especially when the victim of the crime was one of the teachers that were mentored by Brighton. Brighton's hands are not clean because they took the side of the father who did this to his own daughter. To this date, I am certain that nothing has been done about this crime.

Oh come on!

Keep out of it, then you don't make enemies and get fired!

It's not back home, we have very little in the way of rights. It is about treading a fine line half the time regards not getting yourself sacked.

If I made enemies for reporting a criminal violation of human rights, then that doesn't reflect on me; rather it reflects badly on the management of Brighton who don't seem to give a darn about basic human dignity.

Why don't you do a thought experiment: imagine it had been your sister or your lover? Or better yet, imagine you had lost your child because someone forcefully injected you with drugs?

I'll give you a thought experiment instead, did you think you were ever going to take on a mid to high ranking Malaysian army officer and win? Or expose police corruption?

It isn't about what I think about the actual situation, the actual situation sounds absolutely awful, but you now know why you have been fired and another thought experiment is this, a really simple one, I know I am not back home where I have certain rights where I can take on the establishment and win. Even a Malaysian Chinese or Indian can't take on the establishment over there so I don't know why you thought anyone was going to listen to you.

2) It seems that the actual reason Brighton fired me probably had nothing to do with the above stated reasons. It doesn't seem to be a coincidence that I told the above mentioned Project Manager some sensitive information concerning one of the teachers another mentor in my cluster had been mentoring. This mentor had been fired for allegedly having an inappropriate relationship with this teacher, a Musliim lady roughly half his age. (The mentor's wife was in Bangkok due to the fact that she failed to get a dependent visa). It turns out that she had gotten pregnant by this mentor, but the management of Brighton was not aware of this. The father of the teacher, a major in the Malaysian military, had the police detain this mentor and took his daughter away. Subsequently she was taken to a "clinic" and was administered some "morphinous drugs" according to the mentor. This ended up aborting the unborn child. I felt that I should inform the Project Manager of this. I informed him the day before I visited the immigration office to pay for my daughter's approved visa.

.

Why did you do that? They might well have been in your cluster but common decency dictates that you don't go running around behind other teachers' backs and gossiping to management about something that doesn't directly concern you.

That's snitching- and nobody likes a snitch....

It's not snitching. It is reporting a crime, because in most places around the world forced administration of drugs and aborting an unborn child in the process against the woman's will is a crime. It was my civic responsibility to report the crime to my superior, especially when the victim of the crime was one of the teachers that were mentored by Brighton. Brighton's hands are not clean because they took the side of the father who did this to his own daughter. To this date, I am certain that nothing has been done about this crime.

Oh come on!

Keep out of it, then you don't make enemies and get fired!

It's not back home, we have very little in the way of rights. It is about treading a fine line half the time regards not getting yourself sacked.

If I made enemies for reporting a criminal violation of human rights, then that doesn't reflect on me; rather it reflects badly on the management of Brighton who don't seem to give a darn about basic human dignity.

Why don't you do a thought experiment: imagine it had been your sister or your lover? Or better yet, imagine you had lost your child because someone forcefully injected you with drugs?

I'll give you a thought experiment instead, did you think you were ever going to take on a mid to high ranking Malaysian army officer and win? Or expose police corruption?

It isn't about what I think about the actual situation, the actual situation sounds absolutely awful, but you now know why you have been fired and another thought experiment is this, a really simple one, I know I am not back home where I have certain rights where I can take on the establishment and win. Even a Malaysian Chinese or Indian can't take on the establishment over there so I don't know why you thought anyone was going to listen to you.

I think you have misunderstood what I wrote. I didn't "take [him] on" as you say. I told my superior at Brighton.
Besides, I don't let consequences be the sole guide for my actions.
I suppose if we all acted the way you suggest we do, then America would not even exist as an independent country, blacks would never have won their civil rights, and women would not be voting.
Do you always belittle people who act on their principles?

I think you have misunderstood what I wrote. I didn't "take [him] on" as you say. I told my superior at Brighton.
Besides, I don't let consequences be the sole guide for my actions.
I suppose if we all acted the way you suggest we do, then America would not even exist as an independent country, blacks would never have won their civil rights, and women would not be voting.
Do you always belittle people who act on their principles?

Well, you didn't do anything about it yourself, all you did was tittle-tattle to your boss, if you want to make inroads on it, you still have time.

Probably your bosses there didn't want to risk the 'loose lips sink ships' scenario and have you blabbing around the ville about the wrong person, word gets back and it seems like he can make their life very hard.

He is an army officer with connections to the police, Muslim, most importantly - a Malay - he holds every single winning card - nobody in Brighton Education does and you certainly don't.

So there is a reality check here - this isn't a comparison to the civil rights march at Selma - the equivalent would be British Calvary charging at Russian cannons on horseback armed with swords in 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' a rather foolish action. Anyway, there is always a lesson learned, I hope.

I think you have misunderstood what I wrote. I didn't "take [him] on" as you say. I told my superior at Brighton.
Besides, I don't let consequences be the sole guide for my actions.
I suppose if we all acted the way you suggest we do, then America would not even exist as an independent country, blacks would never have won their civil rights, and women would not be voting.
Do you always belittle people who act on their principles?

Well, you didn't do anything about it yourself, all you did was tittle-tattle to your boss, if you want to make inroads on it, you still have time.

Probably your bosses there didn't want to risk the 'loose lips sink ships' scenario and have you blabbing around the ville about the wrong person, word gets back and it seems like he can make their life very hard.

He is an army officer with connections to the police, Muslim, most importantly - a Malay - he holds every single winning card - nobody in Brighton Education does and you certainly don't.

So there is a reality check here - this isn't a comparison to the civil rights march at Selma - the equivalent would be British Calvary charging at Russian cannons on horseback armed with swords in 'The Charge of the Light Brigade' a rather foolish action. Anyway, there is always a lesson learned, I hope.

I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree.
I object to your characterization of me, because you are pretending to know something about me that you don't. I actually don't engage in gossip. Reporting crimes is not gossip. I think it rather offensive that you characterize reporting a forced injection of drugs and aborting a child as "tittle-tattle".
People who do heinous deeds need to be exposed no matter who they are.
By the way, the civil rights movement wasn't primarily about marches.

I suppose we'll have to agree to disagree.
I object to your characterization of me, because you are pretending to know something about me that you don't. I actually don't engage in gossip. Reporting crimes is not gossip. I think it rather offensive that you characterize reporting a forced injection of drugs and aborting a child as "tittle-tattle".
People who do heinous deeds need to be exposed no matter who they are.
By the way, the civil rights movement wasn't primarily about marches.

Can I ask you something? Serious question.

What sanctions do you want imposing against whom?

The Malay teacher sacked/given counselling? The Malay army major reported? The doctor who performed the abortion reprimanded/struck off?

Who is to say the senior management at BE haven't had a visit from this gentleman and his law enforcement friends? There is a potentially serious loss of face issue here which could get you and your management killed, harmed, deported - take your pick.

It is not the west, it has the veneer of civilisation but the facts are you are bottom of a very big totem pole, it is a country that practices apartheid against anyone who isn't an ethnic Malay Muslim. A Malay military officer with police connections - taking him on is like offering Mike Tyson for a straightener outside - he might be past his best and not as big as he is on TV but you are going to get a painful hiding.

They are probably doing you a big favour getting you out - the civil rights movement had numbers, the suffragettes had their place in the social order - you have neither, I know it is hard to walk away but sometimes - you have to do it, especially on away ground, none of us are masters of the universe - leave it to He-Man.